28 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 66 



The pottery and the bone and stone implements are all identical 

 with similar artifacts of the Florida or south-eastern Indians ; while 

 the human hones themselves show without exceptio'n modern fea- 

 tures, with numerous characteristics which permit their identification 

 also as IndiaiL 



The conclusions arrived at are, that the A ero finds represent 

 another of those cases, which are bound to occur from time to time, 

 where the circumstances seem to point to antiquity of the human 

 bones, but where a thorough all-sided inquiry shows that the mass 

 of the evidence is decisively against such an assumption/ 



Ales Hrdlicka. 



TRIP TO FORT MYERS REGION, WEST COAST OF FLORIDA 



Following the visit to \"ero a trip was made to Fort Myers, Fla., 

 and to several of the outlying keys, where human remains were 

 reported. The particular object of this trip, was to visit a small 

 island off h^ort Myers known as the Demorest or Demere Key, on 

 which, according to information obtained from Mr. Sam L. King 

 of 1 Bristol, Tennessee, human bones could l)e found " imbedded in 

 concretionary materials.'" 



After arrival at b'ort Myers a numl)er of gentlemen were met 

 who gave material assistance in locating and reaching the small key, 

 and in making such exploration and collections on the same as were 

 possible within the limited time at our disposal. Those who should 

 be especially mentioned in this connection are Capt. (ieorge F. Kinzie, 

 Mr. A. H. (iillingham. and Mr. Richard Fybor. 



Demere Key, the surface of which measures about fifteen acres, 

 was originally a low and swampy island, like all the small keys in 

 the vicinity, but a larger part of its surface was in the course of time 

 artificially elevated by the Indians, by means of shells, sand, and soil, 

 for the purposes of habitation and cultivation. Along the middle of 

 this large artificial elevation runs a remarkable platform about 80 

 feet long, the eastern boundary of which is supported by a still fairly 

 well preserved, well-made wall of conch shells. This structure has 

 been briefly reported by Cushing,' and by Mr. Clarence B. Moore," but 

 its origin is in doubt. At a short distance north-east of this elevation 

 there is a low, irregular heap which contains numerous Indian 

 burials. On examining the surface of this heap it was found to 



^ A preliminary symposium on these finds appeared in The Journal of 

 Geology, No. i, 1917; Dr. Hrdlicka's full report will bcpublished by the Bureau 

 of American Ethnology. 



^ Proc. .Amer. Philosoph. Soc, Vol. 3S' 1896, p. 237. 



* Antiquities of Florida, West Coast, p. 366. 



